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Groves in a bad position in Froch rematch

(Referee Howard John Foster putting a textbook headlock on George Groves in stopping his fight with Carl Froch last November) By Scott Gilfoid: #6 IBF, George Groves (19-1, 15 KO’s) might be better off forgetting about a rematch with IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (32-2, 23 KO’s) unless he’s okay with accepting an 85-15 purse split of what could be a 10 million pound purse for the fight. In other words, Froch would wind up getting 85% of the purse due to Groves being ranked at #6 by the IBF instead of #1, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. If Groves had the #1 ranking by the IBF, his purse would be large at 25% at 75-25 with Froch getting the lion’s share.

Groves had hoped that the International Boxing Federation would decide on making the rematch between him and Froch a 75-25 split. Unfortunately, the IBF decided on Thursday that all Groves’ split will be is a measly 85-15.

If Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn doesn’t make a deal with Groves for the rematch for a large purse for him given the fans he’s bringing to the fight, then the fight will go to purse bids, and that means that Groves will be stuck with 15 percent of the purse due to him being ranked lower than the #3 spot, according to Rafael.

It would be in Hearn’s best interest to give Groves the 25 percent that he’s asking for because Groves could walk away from the fight, leaving Froch with nothing. Froch isn’t going to make this kind of money fighting former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and he obviously has shown little interest in getting back in the ring with the talented WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward. Additionally, WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin has no interest in abandoning the 160 division to move up and fight Froch at super middleweight, and Froch doesn’t want to move down to fight him at 160. As such, Groves is the best deal for Froch and Hearn, even if it means giving Groves 25 percent of the purse.

The Groves-Froch II rematch will bring huge money, and it’s just not worth it for Groves to let Froch hog 85 percent of it. If I were Groves, I’d walk away from the fight because it’s just too lopsided in Froch’s favor. Once Groves is ranked at #1 again by the IBF or by the WBA, then they can talk about a rematch, but right now it’s simply not worth it for Groves to take the fight. He would be basically doing Froch a huge favor if he were to agree to fight him with just a 15 percent cut, because he would be feathering Froch’s retirement nest. If Hearn doesn’t want to give Groves 25% or better, then Groves should move on and forge his own career and let Froch fight Chavez Jr. and whoever else with what little time he has left in his career.